Intercultural Business News

The lithium car battery is primed to become a “major disruptive force” over the next decade, dictating the fate of the world’s largest vehicle makers, reshaping the electronics industry and sparking possible tensions between the mineral haves and have-nots.

As carmakers ponder moves into greener manufacturing, the risks of mistakes grow greater with every new battery maker or technology that emerges. With the industry rules reset by lithium, analysts say, new businesses are expected to appear from nowhere. Many will fail but some may go on to become the new General Motors or Toyota.

Will LIthium Replace Internal Combustion?

Lithium batteries and the prospect of some future worldwide market for electric cars have already propelled Wang Chuanfu, the founder of the car and battery maker BYD, to become China’s richest man as shares in his company soared. A year earlier, he was 103rd in the rankings.

The prospect of lithium’s rising dominance over a post-oil economy has begun to draw warnings from government and industrial sources that seismic shifts are about to take place. The investment scene surrounding batteries, analysts say, may become more complex as new companies emerge to challenge the established players and speculative bubbles inflate throughout all stages of the battery-making process.

Read More>Times Online

The price of gold has touched an all-time high for a third consecutive day – after a continued decline in the dollar kept it attractive to investors.

Gold reached $1,058 an ounce, powering past Wednesday’s high of $1,048.4. On Tuesday it passed the $1,033.9 an ounce record set in March last year.

Analysts said that there was still potential for prices to rise further if the dollar remained weak.

Gold Price Hits All Time High

However, there was caution that it may represent a price bubble.

Speculative bubble?
 FACTORS IN GOLD PRICE RISE
Weak dollar
Speculation
Inflation risk
Time of year
Why prices are high and does it matter? 
“Investors are turning towards gold as a hedge in dollar weakness,” said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Read More>BBC News

Skype today announced a new business funded click-to-call product and a strategic partnership with European Directories that will turn online search for businesses into calls for businesses.

Skype’s business funded click-to-call delivers great value and convenience by making it easier and free for consumers who are using Skype to call local businesses they search for anywhere on the internet. A call that is funded by a business will be highlighted with a blue “Free Call” button that appears anywhere online where a phone number is displayed, including search engines, internet yellow pages or local search sites. This automatic phone number recognition allows Skype’s more than 480 million registered users to call a participating business for free. Calls that are not funded by a business can still be connected via Skype, but at a low cost charged to the Skype user.

Business Funded Click To Call

The partnership between Skype and European Directories will offer consumers free calls to up to 700,000 businesses across Europe. Participating European Directories advertisers will have the opportunity to be highlighted with Skype’s blue “Free Call” button anywhere their number appears on the internet.

Read More>Business Wire

An obscure, desolate plateau on the southwestern shores of Greenland could transform the future of consumer technology and shift the balance of power in the global supply of rare earth metals.

Some of the rare minerals found under UV light

The treasure trove beneath the rocks and ice of the Ilimaussaq Intrusion represents the world’s largest known reserve of rare earth metals, the “technology” group of lanthanide elements used in products from mobile phones and low-energy light bulbs to hybrid cars and missile guidance systems.

The find has the potential, its developers claim, to severely dent China’s global monopoly over rare earth production, a 95 per cent dominance of total worldwide output that Beijing has strategically nurtured for 15 years and recently has started to treat as a potent trade weapon.

According to the Australian mining company with rights to develop it, the site could also spectacularly change the national fortunes of Greenland, which is undergoing significant political change as it draws closer to independence from Denmark. From January next year, Greenland will gain full sovereignty over its natural resources. The rare earths alone have the potential to double the country’s effective GDP.

Read More>Times Online